Africa’s Worst Food Taboos

As a lady from the Maasai community, I was taught from a very young age that I am not allowed to eat a cow’s tongue or a chicken’s gizzard. These were special cuts reserved only for the man who heads the family. My grandmother always joked how women were not allowed to eat the cow’s tongue because it would only make them more talkative. I was also taught a specific way to prepare certain food items for different occasions. These are just some of the few food taboos we have in our Maasai culture. Food taboos are common in every culture all over the world. For example, pregnant Fulla women in Gambia were not allowed to eat beef because it was believed to fatten the baby too much. Cultural beliefs and practices still affect our dietary rules and regulations even today. Food taboos have a long history in our African culture and in most cases we don’t have a good sound explanation for the existence (and persistence) of certain dietary customs but we still adhere to them. In most traditional societies, food taboos were often meant to protect the people in the community. It was mostly done after observations and if certain food items were noted to cause allergies or side effects then they were declared unsafe to consume. Food taboos were also a way to bring cohesion in the community and help that particular group maintain its identity in the face of others, and, therefore, create a sense of…

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